Naguib el-Rihani
Naguib el-Rihani (January 21, 1889 in Cairo – June 8, 1949 in Alexandria) was an Egyptian film and stage actor.
Also recorded as Naguib El Rihani
Naguib el-Rihani

[1] · Public domain
- Name
- Naguib el-Rihani
- Birth Name
- Naguib Elias Rehana نجيب إلياس ريحانة
- Born
- 21 January 1889
- Birthplace
- Bab El Sheirya, Cairo, Egypt
- Died
- 8 June 1949
- Place of death
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Occupation
- Actor
- Spouse
- * Lucie de Vernay,
- Full name
- نجيب إلياس ريحانة.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q4165427 · wikipedia · Naguib el-Rihani
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Naguib el-Rihani • Native Name — نجيب الريحاني • Birth Name — Naguib Elias Rehana نجيب إلياس ريحانة • Born — 21 January 1889 • Birthplace — Bab El Sheirya, Cairo, Egypt • Died — 8 June 1949 • Place of death — Alexandria, Egypt • Occupation — Actor • Spouse — * Lucie de Vernay, • Badia Masabni
Biography
Biography
Born in Bab El Shereya, Cairo to a middle-class family. His father, an Assyrian Christian who worked as a horse expert and a trader, his mother was a Coptic Christian Egyptian woman from Cairo. He was one of three sons that his parents would have together. He was educated in the French Catholic school "Les Frères" in Cairo. El-Rihani had a turbulent marriage with Badia Masabni, an actress and businesswoman who settled in Cairo after living within the United States for years, and established her famous cabaret, "Casino Badia." They separated before his death. He died at the age of 60 years in Cairo of typhus, while filming his last film, "Ghazal Al Banat". • Illustration — Rihani in Salama Is Okay (1937) He established his own theatrical group in the late 1910s, in Cairo, and partnered with his lifelong friend, Badeih Khairy, in adapting several French theatre hits to the Egyptian stage, and later to the cinema. Legendary Egyptian comedian Fouad El Mohandes, acknowledged Naguib el-Rihani's effect on him and his style in acting. On 21 January 2016, Google Doodle commemorated his 127th birthday.
List of plays
List of plays
• Taaleeli Ya Bata (تعاليلي يابطة و انا مالي ايه) • El Rial 1917. • Kesh Kesh Bey Fee Paris. (Kesh Kesh Bey In Paris) • Hamar We Halawa. • Ala Keifak (As You Like) • El Ashra El Tayeba 1920, music by Sayed Darwish. • Ayam El Ezz (Times of Prosperity). • Lawe Kont Malik (If I Was A King). • Mamlaket El Hob. (Kingdom of Love) • El Guineh El Masry (Egyptian Pound) 1931, adapted from Topaze by Marcel Pagnol • El Donia Lama Tedhak (When Luck Smiles) 1934. • Hokm Karakosh (Rule of Karakosh) 1936. • Kismiti (My Luck) 1936. • Lawe Kont Heleiwa (If I Was Handsome) 1938. • El Dalouah (The Spoiled Girl) 1939. • 30 Yom Fee El Segn (30 Days In Prison) • El Setat Ma Yearfoush Yekdebo (Women Never Lie) • Ela Khamsa إلا خمسة (Minus Five) 1943. • Hassan, Morcos & Cohen 1945.
Filmography
Filmography
• Saheb Al Saada KeshKesh Beh (1931). • Yacout (1934), adapted from "El Guineh El Masry". • Besalamtoh Ayez Yetgawwez (1936). • Salamah Fe Kheer (1937). • Abou Halmoos (1941). • Leabet Al Set (1941). • Si Omar (1941), adapted from "Lawe Kont Heleiwa". • Ahmar Shafayef (1946). • Ghazal Al Banat (1949).

Naguib el-Rihani and some of his friends during his tour in Lebanon and the Levant in 1920.
Scanned image

Naguib el-Rihani on the stage playing the role of "kishkish bey", in 1927
Scanned image
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Naguib el-Rihani, revision 1345478613 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.جولولي - السيرة الذاتية لـ: نجيب الريحاني. gololy.com.
- 2.نجيب الريحانى فى عيد ميلاده الـ 126. Cairodar - كايرودار.
- 3.السيرة الذاتية : نجيب الريحاني - السينما.كوم. www.elcinema.com.
- 4.ابنة نجيب الريحانى: والدى كان وطنيا من الدرجة الأولى ويحب الستات بأدواره المسرحية.
- 5.Interwar Egypt and the Comedy of Najib al-Rihani.
- 6.Remembering Fouad El-Mohandes: A Legacy of Laughter That Lives On.
- 7.Naguib El Rihani's 127th Birthday. 21 January 2016.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Nagat AliAuthor
- Nagata MikihikoAuthor
- Nagendranath BasuAuthor
- Nagorao Ghanashyam DeshpandeAuthor
- Naguib MahfouzAuthor
- Naguib SururAuthor
- Nāhiḍ Munīr RayyisAuthor
- NahmanidesAuthor
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